Lord Hear Our Prayer, During this season of continued storms of snow and ice and freezing rain, in the relentless cold and winds that chill our bodies and our spirits, let us remember our priests. They too struggle with this weather. Not only to meet the demands of being a priest, they also ache in their [Read More...]

Sitting in my oratory, I finished the Salve Regina prayer. I then looked from the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe out the window at a gray winter’s morning. I felt heavy that morning, down, and I didn’t know why. Kissing the blue millefiori rosary in my hand, I returned it to the porcelain dish, [Read More...]

My day is not starting off well. The furnace has stopped working and its really old. The plumber t00 is coming because, well, plumbing issues. The house is cold, the pipes are even colder, and winter has just begun. Let us pray for our priests who also struggle in the cold, that their dwellings remain warm [Read More...]

Lord Hear Our Prayer, During this season of continued storms of snow and ice and freezing rain, in the relentless cold and winds that chill our bodies and our spirits, let us remember our priests. They too struggle with this weather. Not only to meet the demands of being a priest, they also ache in [Read More...]

I was surprised this year by the return of migratory birds. It felt like the first week in February was too early with night temperatures still running near zero. With over two feet of snow on the ground there was very little food for the birds to forage or materials for building nests. Last week [Read More...]

One of the delights of living a single life in silence is hearing the change in the songs of song birds. I had noticed over the past week that the black capped chickadees had started their flocking call. Their two-note whistle, after which the species in named, is the familiar chica-dee-dee-dee-dee. I had seen a [Read More...]

Restless and awake through the night, in bed under layers of quilts, I listed to the sleeping dog’s whimpering barks. The cat had realized that the dog’s sleep and my wakefulness was an opportunity for undisturbed cuddles. She chortled softly as she walked around the foot of the bed. She placed her front paws on [Read More...]

Sitting in my oratory, I finished the Salve Regina prayer. I then looked from the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe out the window at a gray winter’s morning. I felt heavy that morning, down, and I didn’t know why. Kissing the blue millefiori rosary in my hand, I returned it to the porcelain dish, [Read More...]

The walk this week was at the retreat center. We had a dusting of snow. The Garden Society’s Christmas gathering and pot luck on Tuesday was also my retiring as their coordinator. It was a lovely gathering–more on that come Friday. These are the flowers that one of the [Read More...]

I am eager to get out and walk the grounds at the retreat center with the garden society volunteers. This group of dedicated women and I have been together for many years. Ten years ago when I began the mission to create gardens of prayer and memorial on the campus, I had not anticipated a [Read More...]

In all things, practice the art of being well-pleasing to God.

Margaret Rose Realy

Margaret Rose Realy, Obl. OSB is an Advanced Master Gardener with over thirty-five years experience in the green industry and leads workshop and retreats. She is the coordinator emeritus of the St. Francis Retreat Center Garden Society, a monthly columnist at CatholicMom.com and blogs about gardening and spirituality at Patheos.com.